Vegetarian Christmas food

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carly_am
carly_am Posts: 145 Member
in Recipes
Hi guys,

I'm vegetarian (I eat eggs and dairy but not meat, fish, etc). I used to enjoy big veggie pies for my Christmas dinners but I'm determined not to lose the plot on my intake this year so I wondered if anyone can suggest a nice but low cal/fat etc vegetarian dinner to go with the usual veg, trimmings etc (although ill be loading up on the veg over everything else!!)

Thanks :)
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Replies

  • KellyS_86
    KellyS_86 Posts: 25
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    Nut roast? I made my own last year and I know it sounds bloody boring lol but if you put mixed nuts in and some nice mature cheese... it's really nice! Otherwise, stuffed mushrooms was what my mother-in-law masde me before... xxx
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
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    o i want in on this! Its guna be my first veggie crimbo this year lol
  • katemateg
    katemateg Posts: 334 Member
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    I love a big mushroom with any cheese (Stilton is the best, it is so strong in taste a little goes a long way) on top with some pine nuts and it takes 10 seconds to prepare so ideal.
  • cjvasani
    cjvasani Posts: 6
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    Try looking any Indian recipe. Since most Indians are vegetarians, they have some very tasty (and not necessarily spicy) recipes. Chances are you have an Indian grocery store accessible near you if you live close to any large city or even a town. Use google to find it. start with sanjeevkapoor dot com website. The spices used are not only based on Ayurveda and proven to have benefits for your body (for example, pinch of turmeric is an natural anti-biotic). Spices are cheap and last a long time. If you need further help, reach out to me. For starters, try out this cauliflower and peas recipe. http://sanjeevkapoor.com/gobhi-matar.aspx
    Goes well with brown rice or whole wheat indian breads which you can find at your indian grocery stores. You may use Pita bread as a substitute. Indian for Christmas...now, that'd be unique and tasty!
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
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    flip i thought woulda had loads of ideas by now lol come on wheres all the veggie peeps at ! lol
  • caroleannlight
    caroleannlight Posts: 173 Member
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    I now eat fish so often do that but if i,m not I generally just love all the veggies and load up on those and then I have more room for christmas pudding. I particularly love red cabbage and roast parsnips ( use minimal or no oil). Starter is soup or stuffed mushrooms. I am thinking stuffed peppers may be good and colourful too. I find nut roast can be dry so if I have that then a tomato based sauce can be tasty with lots of fresh herbs and spices.
  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
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    Le Google showed me to this site ;)

    http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/vegetarian/vegetarian-christmas/
  • Shells_clean_slate
    Shells_clean_slate Posts: 5
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    Stuffed squash is very nice for Christmas dinner. Stuff it with chestnuts, leeks, some cheese (goat's cheese or gruyere are lovely) and carmalised onion and you'll be in a veggie treat.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    flip i thought woulda had loads of ideas by now lol come on wheres all the veggie peeps at ! lol
    I have tons of fabulous veggie Christmas ideas, just not low cal/low fat ones! That's not really the point of Christmas food for me. :smile:
  • babynew
    babynew Posts: 613 Member
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    I too am starting with Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms. .& a raw Dip Spread with Apricots, Cashews & Carrots. .So good!
  • Shells_clean_slate
    Shells_clean_slate Posts: 5
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    What about a tart instead of a pie? Less pastry so lower calorie, and if you make it with filo it will be even lower cal.
  • Pookylou
    Pookylou Posts: 988 Member
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    Quorn roast (yum), stuffed peppers/squash. Really like the idea of a savory tart too!!
  • cyndirose67
    cyndirose67 Posts: 11 Member
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    Mushroom & seitan stroganoff is one of my favorite cooking-for-company recipes. Everyone loves it, even meat eaters. I just did a little search and found this recipe, which is very similar to how I make it: http://www.recipelion.com/Vegetarian/Mushroom-and-Seitan-Stroganoff# I prefer to use bowtie pasta instead of fettuccine. You could also use any grain - brown or wild rice, quinoa, barley... - or potatoes. Or just eat the stroganoff without a starch.
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
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    flip i thought woulda had loads of ideas by now lol come on wheres all the veggie peeps at ! lol
    I have tons of fabulous veggie Christmas ideas, just not low cal/low fat ones! That's not really the point of Christmas food for me. :smile:

    I dont care about cals on Christmas lol ! fire them at me :D
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    Le Google showed me to this site ;)

    http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/vegetarian/vegetarian-christmas/

    You mean you can do your own research on the internet? No, not possible :noway:
  • ToFit130
    ToFit130 Posts: 4
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    Hi guys,

    I'm vegetarian (I eat eggs and dairy but not meat, fish, etc). I used to enjoy big veggie pies for my Christmas dinners but I'm determined not to lose the plot on my intake this year so I wondered if anyone can suggest a nice but low cal/fat etc vegetarian dinner to go with the usual veg, trimmings etc (although ill be loading up on the veg over everything else!!)

    Thanks :)

    While one side of my family's holiday foods are decidedly not vegetarian (aka ham and beans and cornbread, or fried ham and eggs and biscuits and gravy) my late grandmother's traditional noon meal for Christmas is easy to do vegetarian. The recipe is basically the same as : http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cheese-soup-recipe/index.html only she used cheddar instead of fontina. You could easy use veggie stock instead of chicken broth (I'd done that before when I was out of the former and it worked fine). I've also use milk instead of heavy cream and it turns out fine. Ditto for black pepper instead of white, and it's OK to skip the bay leaf and Marsala

    Basically, it's a recipe that's pretty easy on the holiday budget for a grandma who bore a lot of kids in a rural town. There is no beer in this soup. Serve with oyster crackers and add hot sauce to taste.

    The calorie count will vary depending on the exact ingredients you use aka skim milk vs heavy cream, full fat vs a slimmer cheddar cheese, etc. What I can say is that there is a surprising amount of veggies hidden in this puree and that it can be grown to have more veggies easily. So it's probably not THAT bad for you, for a Christmas meal anyway.

    While hubby looked at me like I'm crazy for suggesting "cheese" soup for a winter lunch a couple years ago, he was very pleased with it and even requests it sometimes nowadays. Hubby is Jewish, so for him, Christmas has always meant Chinese food. He's still wary of the tree, but has no such qualms about the food. :P

    Puree it with an immersion blender or, very carefully, with an upright blender before you add the cheese. (If you use an upright blender, let the soup cool before blending, leave room for the soup to expand, and don't seal the lid on the blender. Transfer the blended soup back to the pot and bring it back up to temp. Otherwise, if you attempt to blend the soup while hot, it could "explode" scalding hot soup all over your kitchen.)

    Tradition for that side of the family was: Everyone open a package on Christmas eve (which always contained new PJs--perfect for pictures the next morning). Breakfast was whatever the cook felt like. Cheese soup for lunch. Slow cooked ham & beans with cornbread and vinegar for dinner.
  • carly_am
    carly_am Posts: 145 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I love the sound of the stuffed squash!!

    And FitBeto, FYI I looked at that exact website myself in addition to other research and couldn't find anything, hence turning to these forums for a bit of help and ideas.
  • JennetteMac
    JennetteMac Posts: 763 Member
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    Filo pastry parcels are a nice treat. Filled with roast peppers, mushrooms, onion and either chestnuts or cashews for a little extra flavour. Feta Cheese also adds something different.
  • ChristineS_51
    ChristineS_51 Posts: 872 Member
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    Pine Nutmeat NUTROAST with Herb Stuffing - Rose Elliot's Complete Vegetarian Cookbook.
    It serves 6 and freezes well.
    butter and dried breadcrumbs for lining tin
    25g butter
    1 onion, peeled & chopped
    225g pine nuts, cashews or almonds or a mix, ground in processor
    60ml milk
    125g soft white breadcrumbs (Vienna loaf suggested)
    2 eggs
    sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, & nutmeg

    Stuffing
    175g soft breadcrumbs, white or brown
    3 tbs fresh parsley, process bread & parsley together
    125g butter
    grated rind & juice of 1/2 small lemon
    1/2 teas dried marjoram &v1/2 teas dried thyme
    sea salt , freshly ground black pepper

    • Set oven to 180C. Line loaf tin with baking paper; grease with butter and breadcrumbs.
    • Melt butter in medium sized saucepan, fry onion for 10 mins until soft but not browned. Take saucepan off heat and mix in rest of the ingredients, season well with salt, pepper & nutmeg.
    • Stuffing - mix all ingredients together, season well. Pat mixture into a rectangle which is the right size to make a layer on top of the nut mixture.
    • To assemble loaf, spoon half the nut mixture into loaf tin; put stuffing gently in place; spoon the rest of the nut mix on top.
    • Smooth the surface, cover with piece of buttered foil and bake 1 hour, remove the foil. If you think it needs to be a bit browner bake 5-10 mins. Remove from oven, rest for 3-4 mins, slip a knife down the sides of the loaf and turn it out onto a warmed serving dish. Remove baking paper.


    VEGETARIAN - ANIMAL LIBERATION'S NUT ROAST Serves 4
    115g hazelnuts, ground
    115g cashews, ground
    4-5 onions, sliced
    1 very large (or 2 medium) carrots, grated
    2 thick slices wholemeal bread, crumbled
    3-4 tomatoes, chopped
    1/2 cup vegetable juice (such as 'V8)
    1 dessertspoonful Promite (optional)

    Fry onions in olive oil until tender, add carrot, then tomato, and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large saucepan, add 1/2 cup vegetable juice or more) and cook a further 5 minutes. Add breadcrumbs and mix well, cook a further 5 minutes. Add nuts, mix well, transfer to a greased loaf pan and bake in medium oven for 15-20 mins.
    Serve with by roast potatoes and greens; delicious with cranberry or mint sauce.

    ROASTED PUMPKIN & SPINACH PIE
    500g butternut pumpkin
    1 red onion cut into small wedges
    2 tblspn olive oil
    1 clove garlic crushed
    1 tspn salt
    4 eggs
    half cup cream
    half cup milk
    1 tblspn parsley
    1 tblspn coriander
    1 tspn wholegrain mustard
    6 sheets filo pastry
    50g English spinach, blanched
    1 tblspn grated parmesan

    Preheat oven to 190 degrees C (375 F). Slice pumpkin into 1cm pieces leaving skin on. Place pumpkin, onion, 1 tblspn of the olive oil, garlic and salt into a roasting tin. Roast for 1 hour, or until lightly golden & cooked.
    Whisk together eggs, cream, milk, herbs and mustard, season with salt & pepper.
    Grease loose based fluted flan tin or ovenproof dish measuring 22cm across base. Brush each sheet of filo with oil and then line the flan tin with the six sheets. Fold sides down, tucking them into tin to form a crust around the edge.
    Heat a baking tray in the oven for 10 mins. Place flan tin on tray and arrange veges over the base. Pour egg mixture over veges and sprinkle with parmesan.
    Bake for 35-40 mins, until the filling is golden brown & set.


    I've made these in the past, very tasty. I have vegetarian & non-vegetarians to cater for.

    Certainly don't have to sit crunching on a carrot and tofu squares for Christmas :laugh:
  • otrlynn
    otrlynn Posts: 273 Member
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    We are not vegetarians, but we do use a lot of Mollie Katzen's recipes. They can be found in her cookbooks and also many are online. One of our favorites is her cauliflower cheese pie. The recipe can be found here:

    http://www.food.com/recipe/cauliflower-cheese-pie-121654

    We find that a whole med. cauliflower is a bit too much cauliflower, and we usually increase the liquid by adding another egg and a bit more milk. We actually use soy milk because my husband is lactose intolerant.

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